Dream Homes of Texas (Dream Homes)

Book Description

Dream Homes of Texas is a magnificent showcase of the work of the top architects and custom home builders in the Lone Star State.

Customer Reviews:

Texas Dreaming.......2005-11-12

When I picked up this book and flipped through it, I must say that I was a bit surprised, I had expected a book on homes of different ages from different eras. What this book is, however, is a book on new grand Texas homes, and they are for the most part quite spectacular. The images are vivid and well photographed and the homes chosen are some of the finest built in Texas in the last few years. I found the text to be interesting enough, but the real reason to get this book is the images, which are amazing. If you are someone intersted in the best new mansions built in the Lone Star State then you will not be disappointed in this book, if however, you are looking for a book on grand houses from diffent eras, then you will be disappointed indeed.

Dream House: On Building a House by a Pond

Average customer rating:

Not what I was looking for
A wonderfull book more about life then building

Dream House: On Building a House by a Pond
Joe Coomer
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Buildings & Construction | Home Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0571198066

Customer Reviews:

Not what I was looking for.......2001-12-01

I think this is a good book, but it's not what I was looking for. It's sort of a little adventure story of one man's experience building a house. If you're looking for a book that covers the human travails of building a house, you'll probably love it. However, if you're looking for something that goes into some of the technical aspects of contracting and building your own house, you'll probably be disappointed.

A wonderfull book more about life then building.......1998-09-01

A wonderfull book more about life then building. I found as a builder it raing a bell. It took poetry and the process of autobiograpy and nailed it on to a rafter for us to find as we take apart his life by building his house.

Average customer rating:

Adequate in the writing style department
Ranch of Dreams is Excellent!
Maybe a life-changing book.
Ranch of Dreams Made Me Proud To Be A Texan
Ranch of Dreams left me wanting more.

Ranch of Dreams
Cleveland Amory
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Essays | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 067087762X

Amazon.com

In Ranch of Dreams, Cleveland Amory recounts his adventures traveling hither and yon for the Fund for Animals, saving creatures from human excesses. A zoo lover since being introduced to Anna Sewell's Black Beauty during childhood, Amory has made a great project of founding and maintaining an East Texas ranch that serves as a sanctuary for endangered and abused creatures, from burros evicted from the Grand Canyon to a great menagerie of kinkajous, foxes, pigs, aoudads, buffalo, and elephants, among others. He is a gracious and knowledgeable commentator on the lives of these animals, and a man of considerable tact, which must have helped when dealing with, say, the Defense Department in his efforts to save wild goats from a California island used for gunnery practice.

Book Description

After reading Black Beauty as a child, Cleveland Amory dreamed that some day he would have a ranch where animals would not be abused, but rather would, like that famous horse, end their days roaming proud and free. Many people know that for decades Amory has worked tirelessly on the behalf of animals as the founder of The Fund for Animals and that he first confessed to being adopted by a stray cat himself in The Cat Who Came for Christmas, the bestselling cat book of all time. But few know that Amory did in fact realize his childhood ambition by establishing the Black Beauty Ranch in East Texas. Now he shares, in his all-but-patented combination of humor and warmth, the remarkable stories of these rescuees. Over the years countless animals who have been mistreated or simply found inconvenient have been saved from death's door at this unique sanctuary. Wild burros from the Grand Canyon have been rescued from massacre. Goats from San Clemente Island have been saved from U.S. Navy guns. Nim, the talking chimpanzee and perhaps the most famous animal in the country, was released from a laboratory. Everything from elephants and buffalo to prairie dogs and, yes, cats have found their haven at the ranch, where they can live out their lives knowing, as the last line of Black Beauty puts it: My troubles are all over, and I am at home. At times heartbreaking, at times hilarious, always moving and engrossing, Ranch of Dreams is sure to capture the hearts and minds of Amory's countless readers.

Customer Reviews:

Adequate in the writing style department.......2005-06-01

I generally enjoyed "Ranch of Dreams" - what animal lover couldn't? Heartwarming stories of animal rescues written in a quick and oftentimes witty style.

However, it is that same writing style that occasionally brings Amory from the respectable "pro-animal" into the realm of "anti-human." He becomes argumentative and defensive at times, making me want to argue right back, despite the fact that I agree with him.

Despite this, Amory's book is a worthwhile read, though I would recommend seeking out a cheap used copy and spending the money you save on "Best Friends: The True Story of The World's Most Beloved Animal Sanctuary," another lovely book on saving animals in need.

Ranch of Dreams is Excellent!.......2004-07-20

I absolutely loved this book. Although difficult to handle when reading about the abuse of animals, it is so well written that you just can't put it down. Cleveland's sense of humor shows through his writing and makes this book a must-read! And, if you haven't been to the Ranch of Dreams - you must go!!! Black Beauty Ranch in TX is the most beautiful place in the world - and the beauty is so much more than what meets the eye!

Maybe a life-changing book........2003-08-05

Cleveland Amory wrote of his beloved cat Polar Bear, "Heaven will be no heaven for me if Polar Bear is not there."

I say heaven will be no heaven for me if Cleveland Amory is not there. Anyone with even a small soft spot in his heart cannot fail to be moved by the stories of the Black Beauty Ranch and the animals of various species that call it home.

Someone recently asked me what I'd do if I didn't need to work for a living. I think I'd want to go to Murchison, Texas and help care for the ranch's residents.

Ranch of Dreams Made Me Proud To Be A Texan.......2001-11-13

Having never read anything by Cleveland Amory before I was quite surprised to learn of Black Beauty Ranch in East Texas.Ranch of Dreams opened my eyes to what really goes on behind the circus tents,most haunting and heartwrenching the cruel treatment of the elephants,ripped from their mothers and herds and beaten into submission.Dear Mr Amory;he passed before writing a follow up book. The book is well worth the read,a lesson in human compassion,and when you are finished,pass it on to a friend.

Ranch of Dreams left me wanting more........1999-03-05

I guess I just expected more from this book. I wanted more personal experiences and more discussions of individual animals that had been brought to the ranch. I feel that the book was to "general" in its approach. It just wasn't personal enough.

West of the American Dream: An Encounter With Texas (Tarleton State University Southwestern Studies in the Humanities, 14)

Average customer rating:

West of the American Dream: a commentary
Texas Poetry "Exposed"

West of the American Dream: An Encounter With Texas (Tarleton State University Southwestern Studies in the Humanities, 14)
Paul Christensen
Manufacturer: Texas A&M University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Criticism | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

West of the American Dream: a commentary.......2004-09-05

This book is interesting, and achieves verisimilitude by its somewhat random structure, and stream-of-consciousness execution. One has the sense of peering over the author's shoulder as he composes late at night.
This work reminds me of Flyfishing through the Midlife Crisis by Howell Raines. Christensen's voice is warmer, and slightly less cynical, but then he is writing about Texas, not Washington D.C. Christensen is a poet, and sprinkles his prose with lovely turns of phrase, and flights of fancy.
I was delighted by the fact that there is a tradition of women's poetry societes in Texas, a province thought to be the exclusive domain of snippy New Englanders. Richard C. Hoagland reminds us that people turn to poetry when they are under a state of siege.
Christensen's main concern seems to be that Texas poets have not written an epic about their state, a state worthy of epic writings. Perhaps one brave soul will pick up the gauntlet and succeed at such a challenging undertaking.

Texas Poetry "Exposed".......2003-05-02

Paul Christensen's sweeping analysis of Texas poetry and poets is unprecedented in the critical oeuvre of modern times. His brilliant study is the product of decades of insightful observation and analysis. A highly accomplished poet himself, he lays bare the essence, both artistic and philosophical, of virtually every significant Texas poet of our time. Highly recommended.

Amazon.com

British painter David Hockney, well known for his cool and lovely paintings of California pools, has taken on the new role of detective. For two years Hockney seriously investigated the painting techniques of the old masters, and like any admirable sleuth, compiled substantial evidence to support his revolutionary theory. Secret Knowledge is the fruit of this labor, an exhaustive treatise in pictures revealing clues that some of the world's most famous painters, Ingres, Velázquez, Caravaggio (just to mention a few) utilized optics and lenses in creating their masterpieces. Hockney's fascination with the subject is contagious, and the book feels almost like a game with each analysis a "How'd they do that?" instead of a whodunit. While some may find the technical revelation a disappointment in terms of the idea of genius, Hockney is quick to point out that the use of optics does not diminish the immensity of artistic achievement. He reminds the reader that a tool is just a tool, and it is still the artist's hand and creative vision that produce a work of art. (296 pages, 460 illustrations, 402 in color.) --J.P. Cohen

Book Description

David Hockney's controversial book, now revised in paperback with thirty-two new pages of evidence

Join one of the most influential artists of our time as he investigates the painting techniques of the Old Masters. Hockney's extensive research led him to conclude that artists such as Caravaggio, Velázquez, da Vinci, and other hyperrealists actually used optics and lenses to create their masterpieces.

In this passionate yet pithy book, Hockney takes readers on a journey of discovery as he builds a case that mirrors and lenses were used by the great masters to create their highly detailed and realistic paintings and drawings. Hundreds of the best-known and best-loved paintings are reproduced alongside his straightforward analysis. Hockney also includes his own photographs and drawings to illustrate techniques used to capture such accurate likenesses. Extracts from historical and modern documents and correspondence with experts from around the world further illuminate this thought-provoking book that will forever change how the world looks at art.

Secret Knowledge will open your eyes to how we perceive the world and how we choose to represent it.

Customer Reviews:

Not so Secret to Art Technicians.......2007-08-13

Nothing is revealed but much is speculative, add a dash of "evidence" and juggle well.....I must admit to being both a commercial artist and a so-called fine artist, sign painter, computer graphic artist, sculptor, teacher, ceramics artist, candlemaker, etc., who has embraced all the projectors, cameras, overhead projectors, slide projectors, computers, tv's and every imaginable device that I could manage on many occasions, to meet a deadline. I've been drawing for my entire life and am quite studied. But, I find Hockney's revealing text and SECRET ideas to be simply another "fashionable" and wearable piece of entertainment from the old salt. Sue me. Then sue Rembrandt. As for the nasty reviews, what's up with the this public's deluded needs that every so-called master MUST be a superb draftsman? SIMPLY SAVES SOME TIME AND ENERGY TO PROJECT A DRAWING OR SKETCH. Hockney's work is bright, bold and fashionable. Those artists to whom we entitle as "masters" were similarly inclined, all attempted to be supported by their productions!! Any artist knows that those fuzzy afterimages he sees in his sleep certainly won't sell, and even the abstractionists of every ilk, must strive for atmosphere, depth cues, etc. Art is about making an illusion, and to use a lens is no sin. Especially when for the most part, your painting must done by candle light or very limited daylight, most often in freezing cold ateliers, heated by a wood stove....Be quiet though, the public doesn't really want their opined bubble popped!

Hockney's Evidence is Thought-Provoking, Verifiable/Falsifiable.......2007-03-27

Critics and reviewers who have rated Hockney's Secret Knowledge low seem to me to overlooks some major points. Some of these I find more persuasive than the the issue of alleged perspective misjudgment which seem to attract the greatest heat.

1. H points out that a huge majority of portraits in the period show the model as left handed--some 80%. This is consistent with use of lenses and inconsistent with the frequency of left-handedness in the population. Now, here is a verifiable fact. Are H's numbers right--or are they not?

2. H is not claiming that everyone 1400-1650 was a poor draftsman. At least in what I've seen so far, he doesn't claim e.g. that Rembrandt used optics. Part of his evidence is however that some artists who were great painters were not great draftsmen--their painting exceeds in accuracy their draftsmanship. Now this appears to me again something that is verifiable by a third party. (The question of H's own draftsmanship abilities is totally irrlevant. I don't like his art much myself).

3. In a highly competitive art market, where realism counted, what is the likelihood that artists would >not < use devices that helped them both with accuracy and speed? Even if the great Ren artists could paint and draw realistically without optics (and their education certainly was thorough), throughput and competitive concerns surely would have pushed them in that direction.

4. To my knowledge, no one has responded to H's claim that the change in light to very strong with dark shadows from about 1400 (light is flat) to 1500 is very consistent with use of optics. Yes, that is not the only possible explanation. But from a philosophy of science perspective, this phenomenon and the phenomenon of increased accuracy need to be explained. H at least offers an explanation. The burden of an alternative explanation is on the critics. H's hypothesis could be falsified by showing that in fact strong lighting was used before this period and flat lighting afterwards.

5. Another phenomenon for which H has an explanation but for which I haven't seen alternatives is the fact that in many realistic paintings, depth of field is evident. An example is the famous Vermeer milk pitcher painting. H has an explanation of why the foreground breadbasket is out of focus, while the background basket is (oddly) in focus. If a critic doesn't like H's explanation, he/she should provide an alternative.

6. H shows that in some cases extremely precise scaling is evident--scaling that would be very difficult to do by hand. Prof Falco, the optics and superconducting physicist who collaborated with H., has done the math and claimed that obtaining such accuracy by hand is very difficult since the error is (as I remember) under 2%). Doing anything by hand with under 2% error is quite a feat--including reconciling bank statements :)-- never mind drawing. Here is another phenomenon in which either the factual statements by H and Falco can be easily verified/falsified or need an alternative explanation should be provided.

On an ad hominem note, I think it is worth pointing out that art historians have a built-in motive for rejecting H's hypothesis: They didn't find it! I took an amateur to notice the discrepancies. Finally, personal experience suggests that some people have a lot more difficult time with accuracy/obtaining a likeness than others. For H to be correct, he does not need to support the claim that everyone who was accurate used optics, only that some did and these raised the bar for the art community as a whole.

Thanks for reading.

Another great book from Hockney's first rate mind.......2007-01-12

I have spent years painting and teaching and drawing the figure. Its amazing how much a person still can learn after practicing it for so long. This is one of the joys of drawing. Every investigated mark is a learning experience. That is what I also love about Hockney. This man might not be the greatest shining star artist of our time, but it would be easy to defend him as the greatest thinker in the arts since Da Vinci.

'Secret Knowledge' is just a small chunk of Hockney's oeuvre. He has been writing books primarily through the interview form for decades. Each book has looked at aspects of art in different lights. This book only happens to be the most concise and stylized of his many efforts.

Basically, if your here reading this, I bet you have some idea what this book is about already. You know that Hockney is putting forth a thesis on how drawings were so precisely crafted by the masters two hundred years ago, while today as one of our societies foremost draftsmen, Hockney cant even come close to matching those abilities. Hockney goes into detail on how he can see characteristic pencil marks created by Warhol or other artists using over-head projectors and Ingres' drawings. This is pretty obvious if you have done both. Hockney then goes into precise detail on the drawbacks of using the camera lucidea and obscuras and how they were used.

I really find some qualms with the reviewer who says that Hockney's arguments are on par with a junior high school students and that they are not scientific. Quite the contrary. Hockney's arguments are precise and unfold in a step by step process. You can't really give scientific proof over how a drawing was created any other way than Hockney has done so. The more time you spend drawing the figure, the more you will realize what Hockney is saying, is right on.

I think that this book will go down as one of the benchmark art books of our era. Its well worth pondering over and I think that even though it does not have quite as much relevance in our post-modern era, it will be around for as long as people still want to understand art.

An Important And Original Work.......2007-01-10

An excellent read for those interested in the way artworks were produced. The book's inferences humanize Art History and will change the way you look at the works of past masters. Hockney's research is well documented, well presented and profound.

'A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth' John Singer Sargent.......2006-12-14

Reaction to David Hockney's original book SECRET KNOWLEDGE published in 2001 stirred a lot of controversy from artists, art historians, art collectors, and students: the responses ranged from resounding Bravos! to a clangorous 'Humbugs!' Now Hockney has produced a second expanded volume, partially in response to that outbreak of slander and partially to fill the voids left by his first set of observations. This newly expanded version retains the luxury of copious images of paintings from the early 15th century to the present and adds to that a fascinating series of historical quotations from across the centuries to support his theory. In other words, the book is still controversial - but now it is backed by researched documents from ancient and contemporary scholars.

His theory? Simply that artists from those following Giotto to the present used optics as a tool to create images. Hockney does not disparage this 'manipulation' as a foil to famous artists' integrity or talent: quite the opposite - he lauds the artists who had the intelligence to make use of yet another tool (like paint brushes, charcoal, paper, easels, etc) to hone their skills. Hockney gently and with respect explores the use of the camera obscura and camera lucida along with the use of concave and convex mirrors and lenses, offering the reader not only his ideas on the subject but also splendid examples of how the discovery of optics changed the quality of painting over a mere tow or three years of usage time with such luminaries as Velasquez and Caravaggio!

Whether or not the reader elects to accept Hockney's premise of the importance of optics in the development of art history will not prevent enjoying the fascinating excursion this well designed and produced book offers. Hockney intermingles his own portraits meticulously created with the use of the camera lucida to demonstrate how this technique was in no way a sign of laziness or 'copying' of a projected image on the part of the artists he discusses. Quite the contrary. By utilizing these techniques and sharing the inherent difficulties the use of optics creates in the technical aspects of painting and drawing he is able to speak with authority about his thesis.

Hockney's joy (which continues to this day) is exploring the 'How did they do that?' response to painting, not unlike the way most of us approach a canvas and as 'What does it mean?'. It is this kind of intellectual searching that makes this book such a treasure - that, and the fact that here is yet another superb art history book that the reader will actually READ instead of just perusing the pictures. Highly recommended on many levels. Grady Harp, December 06

Average customer rating:

a Baroque pearl
Laborious read!
Traditional painters and Van Eyck fans will love this book!

The Art of Arts: Rediscovering Painting
Anita Albus
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Northern Renaissance A&I (Art and Ideas)

ASIN: 0520229649

Amazon.com

The lovingly crafted little tome The Art of Arts might become a cult classic if there are enough Jan van Eyck fans out there--or enough readers who can chew their way through 775 footnotes--to make this work of special genius even an underground bestseller. It is filled with delectable details (for example, that an image of a mill in a landscape connotes a wanton woman, complete with a page of explanations why) and myriad perspicacious observations. In discussing such masterworks as van Eyck's Madonna of Chancellor Rolin, author Anita Albus draws the reader into a vanished world of alternative perspectives, painterly depths of color and atmosphere, and the mesmerizing minutiae of late-medieval and Renaissance symbolism. The last chapter of the book, "Of Lost Colors," combines metallurgy, history, meticulous scholarship, and the author's passionate comprehension of colors in a discussion of antique pigments and their physical properties and pictorial uses.

The book's mostly paragraph-long sentences may put off some readers, and the warm, wry, even sly prose--its liveliness, in other words--may raise the hackles of the dowdy art-historical crowd (not the stylish, open-minded one). But this miniaturist's view of the northern Renaissance will copiously reward those who peruse it slowly, especially artists. Although it is possible to become lost in some chapters, as Albus tiptoes unhurriedly toward some arcane, elusive point, in the end it's hard to resist the sort of book that declares of the late 17th century: "Research into arthropods was in the air." This volume is a work of art, complete in itself, meticulously ordered according to the artist's unique vision, and handsomely "framed" by a sensitive designer. --Peggy Moorman

Book Description

In this utterly original book, Anita Albus tells the story--in the birth and triumph of oil painting, the creation of perspective, and the very nature of paint itself--of how, when, and why the eye became king of all the senses.
Albus's subjects are the inventors of easel painting in oils, the van Eyck brothers and their followers. It was in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in northern Europe that oil painting radically changed the way we perceived the world: the ear, through which we had previously received all knowledge, was replaced in importance by the eye. A painter of distinction herself, Albus re-creates this revolutionary time in all its intricacies, its familiarity, and its strangeness.
The Art of Arts is thus both a dazzling cultural history and the story of two explosive inventions: the so-called third dimension of deep space through perspective, and the shockingly vivid colors of a new kind of paint. Albus makes abundantly clear how, taken together, these breakthroughs not only created a new art but altered forever our perception of the world.

Customer Reviews:

a Baroque pearl.......2005-02-17

Reed: No question, this is an interesting book for us Eyckians and lovers/conservators of old pigments. But for us non-academics/editorialists, it's tough love. It is laborious because of the over-ornamentation with trivia, digressions, and references that physically intrude on, and insinuate the text. It's hard to tell someone far more-educated than I to take a writing course, but there it is. Maybe the exhaustive Teutonic method, exhausting nonetheless.
The real value for me, ever-trying to portray the ethereal in this dysfunctional digital/photographic world, is the nearly-unique collection of clues and views about how and why the [Flemish Primitives] were able to put us in undiminishing communion with their subjects, to help us backtrack and do the same for ours. As the gangrenous/social/spiritual/artistic wounds of the last century slowly heal, works like Albus's can help artists and artlovers mirror, maybe catalyze, another age of deep empathy for others. So buy this book, put on your best red turban, nibble some Flemish chocolate, and start with your self-portrait, taking the Niederlanders' enormous care to appreciate the beauty of the image, and thus the person, in front of us. This time with just the hint of a smile as the warmth of dawn flows into the studio...

Laborious read!.......2004-10-26

This is a book that is required reading for my Renaissance art history class. As such, I approached the book with enthusiasm after initially thumbing through the pages. Visually, it is beautiful. There are many full page color illustrations and interesting typeface. However, I was soon disappointed by her disjointed writing style and over 700 footnotes. I labored through this one, only to find out in the end that she finds contemporary art soul-less and lacking. Her conclusion is disappointing!

Traditional painters and Van Eyck fans will love this book!.......2001-09-12

I have recommended this book to several people and now it is available in paperback! It contains many nuggests of information a traditional oil painter will treasure. For example, the lapis lazuli-based pigment used by Van Eyck in his paintings contained tiny flecks of stone which added richness and sparkle to the paint. It was also irregularly ground and refracts light differently than the modern homogeneous synthetic "ultramarine blue" pigment available today. It was precious in Van Eyck's time, but today lapis lazuli ultramarine is more costly than gold per ounce. Albus devotes much of the book to historical pigments and shares recipes for making them.
My complaint with the book is that it is a strangely-shaped volume (it is extremely narrow and tall) and is uncomfortable to hold. Still, the early chapters on Van Eyck's paintings and the historical pigments will entice painters interested in effects not possible with modern pigments.

Rediscovering Some New England Artists 1875-1900

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Rediscovering Some New England Artists 1875-1900
Rolf H. Kristiansen , and John J. Leahy
Manufacturer: Gardner-O'Brien Assoc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0961658002

Average customer rating:

The Art of Arts: Rediscovering Painting
Anita Albus
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NR95O2

Average customer rating:

A Disappointment
MEHNDI THRU MARIE ANAKEE
Very in-depth book

Mehndi: Rediscovering Henna Body Art
Marie Anakee Miczak
Manufacturer: Buy Books on the web.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0741402807

Book Description

This immensely interesting book contains, in practical and easy-to-understand form, every detail on creating fantastic Mehndi designs using natural henna. The author, who has taught body art for over 8 years, unlocks the mysteries of henna's medicinal uses and the beautiful art of Mehndi. With this book, discover the rich history of Mehndi and how easy it is to do in the comfort of your home! MEHNDI: REDISCOVERING HENNA BODY ART contains henna paste recipes, complete details on applying henna, and authentic designs which are easy to follow. This book contains illusive information not found anywhere else, including how to become a professional Mehndi Artisan.

Customer Reviews:

A Disappointment.......2002-08-14

I was disappointed with this book. While it has some interesting parts I had not seen in other books related to henna, such as recipes for dishes to serve at a henna party and instructions on a couple of basic yoga positions, I didn't purchase the book to learn about cooking or exercise. The information for mixing henna paste is fairly good and includes lists of optional ingredients for henna paste and their results, plus pre and post henna treatments for darker stains, but the instructions for actual application are sketchy and have no illustrations. Most of the sample designs, usually my favorite part of a new henna book, are very small, which makes it difficult to view the details. They are also all sketched illustrations, with no photographs of completed work except for the cover. I was also distracted and annoyed many times by the poor grammar and typo/spelling errors.

I wouldn't recommend this book for new henna artists, especially because of its lack of illustrations. An experienced henna artist may find some inspiration for a new twist on their basic henna recipe or henna party activities, but would find most of the information redundant.

MEHNDI THRU MARIE ANAKEE.......2000-01-10

I found this book to be very well done, especially in the area of explaining the history of henna and application of mehndi and was well researched. All safety concerns were covered so I feel I can practice the art form safely, not only on myself but on others as well. I was quite shocked at some of the dangerous ingredients some people try to use in the henna paste. I recommend this book to anyone serious about mehndi and/or looking for a highly explanatory guide / manual on the subject in addition to those interested in the Indian culture and botany of henna.

Very in-depth book.......1999-12-22

Every time I perform Mehndi I find myself getting out my copy of this book and flipping through the pages. It has almost become a ritual.

It is a very respectful look at the art and the cultures of women from where it comes. It was a pleasant surprise to find the section on women's charities included in the book as well.

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